Scientists create world's highest resolution electron microscope

August 8 2002

Researchers from IBM and Nion Co have created the world's highest resolution electron microscope, a media release from IBM says.

The breakthrough may well have a significant impact on the development of semiconductors. The scientists have fulfilled an urgent need as computer-chip features shrink to atomic scales requiring a greater understanding of the materials used in building semiconductors.

The breakthrough was reported in today's issue of the respected British scientific journal, Nature.

For the last five decades, engineers have tried to improve the precision of electron microscopes by counteracting the image-blurring effects of lens imperfections. The IBM and Nion scientists combined seven sets of magnetic lenses with computers to correct the aberration in real-time, making it possible for the microscope to have an electron beam three billionths of an inch wide. This is smaller than a single hydrogen atom.

Using this beam, scientists can now inspect atom-level defects in semiconductor materials. By examining the interaction of silicon (a semiconductor) with silicon oxide (an insulator), scientists can look at how the silicon and oxygen atoms bond to each other and determine the quality of the insulator.
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If the insulator has any defects, scientists can suggest ways to fix
them, such as setting the right conditions to optimise the growth of silicon
and silicon oxide materials.

The breakthrough could also help scientists improve the properties of
silicon through a better understanding of how the atoms inside
materials
interact under certain conditions. Observing how atoms
assemble, move around and interact with other atoms is fundamental to understanding
the properties of materials and may lead to a better understanding of how
to control environmental conditions so future computer chips could
self-assemble.